Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet

8pm, TuesdayOctober7th '08St. James Hall3214 West 10th Avenue at Trutch St. in Kitsilano

This concert has already taken place. Give us your impressions of the show in our guestbook.

Abigail Washburn never set out to
be a songwriter or a recording
artist. Five years ago when she found herself on stage in a smoke-filled Beijing
club playing her banjo and singing old-time Appalachian
mountain music in Chinese to a packed house, she was as surprised as
anyone. "A daring, definite talent, whose feel for the folk idiom
results in moving material. Soulful is the word," hailed the Wall
Street Journal in 2005, during that same tour of China. "On stage, her
voice resonated with the power of a seasoned performer and her poetic
hill tunes sounded all the more evocative in Chinese." As an
"artist
who best embodies the notion of Americana as a worldwide musical
language" (The Tennessean), Abigail has created a new sound – a sound
that challenges traditional notions of country and culture, embodied
in the raw, transcendental music of the Sparrow Quartet. The all-star
collaboration featuring Béla Fleck, acclaimed cellist
Ben Sollee and
Grammy-nominated fiddler, Casey Driessen unveiled Abigail Washburn &
the Sparrow Quartet in May 2008 (Nettwerk).

Produced by Béla Fleck and composed / arranged by the
unconventional
foursome, this record is Abigail's moment to "intentionally create art
that is more than what I ever thought I was capable of," says
Washburn. Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet became an "intimate
exploration of crossing global and cultural lines within myself," says
Abigail, who feels a reverence for both American and Chinese cultures.
"As more and more people engage in this struggle for a new direction
for the human spirit, we'll recognize that we're morphing into a
global species."

The unprecedented combination of two banjos (clawhammer and three-finger-style),
cello and five-string fiddle unfolds - live and on
record – in a dreamlike chamber suite. From the flawless "Overture"
and harrowing revival, "Strange Things," to the interplanetary,
Puccini-inspired old-time fairy tale, "Great Big Wall in China."
"These musicians allowed me to dream big, and they had the chops to
execute it all, and then some," says Washburn. "This next phase is
hardly a lone journey."

The Quartet headlined most of the major festivals in western Canada
this summer, including Vancouver, and Bela Fleck's new film of his
musical travels in Africa has just been accepted by the Vancouver
international Film festival. We are thrilled to be able to bring this
band to town to mark the occasion. Watch for details of an opening set
by the wonderful Vancouver Chinese bluegrass crossover combo Red
Chamber.